Jax is a little behind though. The Millennials haven't moved downtown here yet. I feel like, for big overpriced coastal cities (The north east, Seattle*, San Francisco) this might be true, since property values are so high, no one can afford to live downtown. People are forced to skirt the urban downtown. But here we could easily have affordable apts in downtown and people will flock there if its done right... like your tampa water street post.

* I have a friend who recently moved into a 1br apt in Seattle, 580sq ft and he pays $2400/month. Granted it is a nice new building, but still, who can afford that straight out of college.

I believe this to be true, but it should do little to thwart downtown Jax’s revitalization, if done appropriately. I’ve been pretty vocal on these threads that few people will ever want to live in a high-rise. Here in Manhattan, we are sort of forced to live that way for any number of reasons. My favorite city is Hamburg, Germany, with Berlin a close second, and Paris a close third, and Amsterdam right there in the running. These are not incredibly vertical cities, but they’re dense and incredibly walkable. I’d love that sort of development pattern for the urban core of Jax. Yes, I know it won’t happen because I don’t think Jax has adopted that sort of philosophy as the core driver for revitalization. But it would do wonders for the city.

Sadly, in America, you get living options on either end of the spectrum. Either you’re in cul-de-sac, sprawling, parking lot, big box hell, or you’re a layer in a super expensive, over-valued pancake stack. Hamburg, Berlin, et Alia, represent a middle ground that is too often underrepresented in the states.

For too many in America, downtown revitalization means gleaming skyscrapers that they can marvel at from their cars, when they don’t actually live in them. They don’t fully understand the pain of vertical, stacked living. It can be fun to do once in a while, but to tie up your wealth in a primary residence that sits 20 stories up from terra firma, is a problematic proposition for many. There is a middle ground, however. And I think many cities would be well-served in exploring that middle ground as they think through infill residential and urban core revitalization.